


The Joys of Children

by WindOfTheWillows17



Category: Harry Potter - J.K.Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-12 05:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7086946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindOfTheWillows17/pseuds/WindOfTheWillows17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Harry and Ginny await the birth of their first grandchild, they reminise to a time when their kids were little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Joys of Children

The waiting room was alive with the buzz and anticipation of the impending birth of another Potter child. Harry, Ginny, Albus and Lily sat there waiting for news from James on if his wife Sarah had given birth. Sitting there with not much to do but watch the time pass by, Ginny began to remember memories of her kids when they were little.

Turning to Harry, Ginny asked, "Do you remember what happened when we brought Lily home?"

Harry smiled at his wife and grabbed her hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze. "I sure do." He replied with a chuckle and looking back and forth between Albus and Lily who were sitting across from them.

Albus who noticed his father's gaze, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lily looked up from her nails at the sound of Harry's chuckle with a curious expression on her face. "What happened?"

"Well," Ginny began smiling, "it was a beautiful fall day..."

The memory took hold of her mind as she remembered it like it were yesterday.

Ginny had just begun making lunch for James and Albus. They had both been upstairs playing while little Lily had been soundlessly asleep in the sitting room. 

"Boys!" Ginny shouted as she finished putting the plates together. "Lunch!"

James came clamoring down the wooden stairs and into the large kitchen. 

"Where is your brother?" Ginny questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Dunno." James replied quickly and with a mouth full of sandwich. 

"You better not have done anything James Sirius Potter!" Ginny stated warningly before she called out again, "Albus!" She turned to look at James who continued to devour his lunch at an alarming speed. 'Where could he be?' Ginny thought as she made her way out of the kitchen.

James snickered as she left looking for Albus.

The memory was put on hold when James entered the sterile waiting room. He lazily took the seat between Albus and Lily.

"Well?" Harry questioned looking at his exhausted eldest son. "How's it going James?"

James shrugged. "It's going alright. The Healer says that it should be sometime this afternoon." He finished as he ran his hand through his dark hair.

"How is Sarah holding up?"Ginny asked. "It must be hard with her parents in America.

James nodded. "It is mum, but she's good and she is hanging in there like a trooper."

"A trooper?" Albus asked teasingly as Lily snickered beside him.

"Yeah, trooper. It's an American reference you dolt! Quit trying to take the mickey out of me Albus, I'm not in the mood." He responded with an edge to his voice.

"Alright James, relax and get back in there. Sarah needs you." Ginny informed him before her two boys could have a row.

Standing, he gave his parents a hug and his siblings a scowl before he turned on his heel and back through the double doors.

Once James was out of sight, Lily piped up. "So what else happened on the day you brought me home?"

Harry and Ginny grinned and the memory came back just as vivid as before.

Ginny had been busy searching upstairs for Albus when she heard Lily cry out. 'Darn it' she thought as she made her way back down the stairs and into the sitting room. When she got there she screamed. Lily wasn't there. She was still crying and when Ginny poked her head into the kitchen she noticed Albus sitting there at the table with James eating. Turning around as a loud cry pierced the house. She raced from the sitting room and looked around frantically. The cry it seemed was coming from outside the house. 

Ginny made her way over to the door and pulled it open as quickly as she could only to find baby Lily on the stoop with muggle postage stamps all over her body. Ginny placed her hands over her mouth and her eyes narrowed.

"James Sirius Potter!" She yelled into the house. "Come here NOW!"

James came running to the door just as Ginny had bent down and scooped up Lily off of the step. "What did you do to your sister?!" Ginny questioned him. 

James looked perplexed. "I didn't do it! Albus did."

Ginny bounced and cradled her daughter in her arm as she placed the other hand on her forehead. 'I should have known' she thought to herself. 

"Why does Lily have stamps all over her?" James asked innocently.

Ginny let out a chuckle. "Albus!' She called out. "Come here!"

Albus walked into the room slowly with his head bowed down.

"Did you do this to your sister?" Ginny asked his slumped form with a smile on her face.

"Yes." Albus replied simply and not meeting his mother's playful-looking eyes.

"Oh Al!" Ginny said as she bent down and embracing him in a one arm hug as she cradled Lily in the other arm. "Why did you do this to her?"

"I didn't want a sister. And I really wanted to send her to France to get some cheese like Aunt Fleur has." He replied simply this time looking at his mother's face where he noticed her smiling at him.

She couldn't be mad at him. She knew what it was like having older siblings and couldn't imagine what it was like having a younger sibling. She would probably feel the same way that he felt. "I know you like cheese Al, but putting postage stamps all over your sister with the intent on mailing her to France isn't a good idea." Ginny explained to him. 

Albus nodded.

The memory then ended.

"You were SO mean to me Albus! Is that all you could think about is stupid cheese?" Lily shouted at him.

"What!? I like cheese! It's not my fault that mum and dad came home with a sister instead of cheese!" He fired back at her.

Lily slapped her brother as she started to chuckle.

"Geez sorry Lils." Albus replied as he rubbed his arm.

Ginny and Harry laughed at their children's conversation.

"You know," Harry began, "I do recall a time that Lily caused trouble."

Albus and Lily stopped bickering as Ginny smiled broadly.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked her father. "I always behaved myself." She finished saying and crossed her arms.

Albus laughed hollowly.

Harry chuckled. "I remember coming home from work early on a summer's day to find that my three children were up to trouble in the backyard."

"Oh gosh." Albus said quietly.

"What did I do?" Lily questioned.

The memory unfolded in Harry's mind like it was yesterday.

He had arrived home from work early that fine summer's day and when he arrived at the gate to the backyard, he found his three children playing with Lily's muggle playhouse. Curious, he stood there and watched them for a few moments. James was on the roof, Albus was sitting on the grass directly below the window, and Lily was standing at the front door with a hand on her hip.

As Harry stood there and watched them for a few moments he realized that something else was going on. James and Albus seemed like they were coloring and Lily was too. Then he noticed that Lily was shouting at James and Albus. 

"You color over there James!" She shouted at her oldest brother. Then her red hair that flowed like a silk curtain swayed dangerously with the movement of her body as she lunged towards Albus. "You missed a spot!" She growled angrily. 

James and Albus glared daggers at her. Harry who had seen enough slowly opened the gate and quietly made his way over to the kids. 

"What are you doing?" He asked as he approached them. 

"Nothing!" The responded in a chorus. 

"It doesn't look like nothing to me. James are you coloring the roof?" Harry interrogated his oldest son.

"Maybe?" James responded.

"She made us do it!" Albus shouted at his father.

"Lily made you do this? Why?" Harry wondered as he looked back at Lily who stood there trying with all her might to look innocent.

"I wanted the playhouse to look pretty. Mum also said that if you have a lot of people it is easier to get the things you want done finished." She told him in a soft voice.

"Boy's. Go to the house and ask your mother for three bowls of soapy-warm water and three rags." Harry told them and watched as they marched off to the house.

"Lily you owe your brother's an apology. You should have never bossed them around like that." He began telling her. "Since they didn't tell you no, the three of you will be cleaning the playhouse until dinner time."

Lily nodded her acknowledgement.

Just then the boy's were making their way back towards the scene of Lily's mischief. When they arrived Lily spoke up.

"I'm sorry James! I'm Sorry Albus!" She told the both of them as she grabbed a bowl from James's hand and a rag from Albus's.

"It's okay Lily." James answered her.

"Don't do it again!" Albus pleaded with her.

Lily once again nodded.

Harry watched as the kids tried with all their might to clean the crayon off of the playhouse that later afternoon. They had learned that just because someone tells you to do something doesn't always mean that they are right. Around dinner time, they were called into the house.

The memory melted away from Harry as he was drawn back to reality.

"I remember that. I was so mad at Lily!" Albus had said into the silence.

Lily smiled at Albus. "I wasn't nearly as bad as James was though." She stated to her brother and parents who all nodded in agreement.

"James was always a handful and he was always trying to get you both into trouble." Harry supplied.

"Do you remember the time with him and the wall?" Ginny asked Harry.

Harry laughed. "Yes, I do."

Ginny's memory once again pushed itself front and center to her mind.

The children had been playing that morning while Ginny worked on the column that was due later that day. She had always procrastinated when it came to working and always waited until the last minute to complete what she needed. Because of this she didn't have her full attention on the kids. That is until she was pulled from her work by a very enthusiastic James.

"Mum! Come quick and see what Lily and Albus did!" He shouted at her from the doorway.

'What now?' Ginny thought as she stood up and followed James down the hallway right out side his and Albus's bedroom doors. 

Albus and Lily were also there. Lily was standing next to Ginny as Albus stood cowering against the wall.

"Mum!" James shouted again. "Look at what they did!" He said proudly and stretched out his arm, pointing to the opposite wall. 

Ginny's eyes followed his extended arm to the place he was indicating. Her eyes sparkled with laughter when she saw what he was meaning to show her. "Albus and Lily did this?" She asked him seriously.

James nodded. "Yes!"

Ginny turned to Lily. "Did you do this sweetheart?"

Lily shook her head. "No."

Ginny then turned her attention to Albus. "Did you do this?

Albus timidly shook his head. "No."

"I didn't think so." She replied as she turned and rested her eyes on James. 

"I didn't do it I swear!" James yelled at her.

Ginny laughed as she looked at the wall again. There in a scribbling scrawl was 'James Sirius Potter.' 

The memory faded into laughter from the family around her. Albus was laughing hysterically and Lily just kept saying, "It sounds like something James would do."

Suddenly at the end of the hall the double doors opened up and James stepped through them carrying a small, wrapped bundle in his arms.

"Hi grandma and grandpa!" James called out in a soft voice. "Hi uncle Albus and aunt Lily."

The four Potter's stood as James made his way closer to them carrying his cradled baby in his arms. They noticed that a tear was running down James's face.

"Come here guys." James called out to them as the gap disappeared. "Come here and meet you granddaughter and niece."

Ginny ran over to him. "Oh James!" She cried out.

Harry walked over to gaze at his first grandchild. He too had tears of joy in his eyes. James gently handed his daughter over to her waiting grandma and watched as Lily and Albus went to their mother's side to catch glimpses of their niece. Harry took this time to congratulate his son and patted him on the back.

"She's beautiful James." Harry told his son.

"Thanks." James grinned that trademark smile as he watched his daughter bounce up in down in his mother's arms.

"How is Sarah?" Harry asked him.

"She's good. Tired, but good. I told her I was going to bring the baby out here to meet the family while she got some rest. She was amazing and deserves it." James informed his father.

Stopping for a moment only so Albus and Lily could take a good look at the babies soft, pretty face, Ginny asked James, "Do you guys have a name picked out?"

James grinned. "Spencer Rose Potter."

The family that Harry longed for and finally had was now all grown up. Ginny took this precise moment to hand Spencer over to Harry and as he held his granddaughter for the very first time, he realized then that the memories of his children when they were younger were some of the ones that he would cherish for a lifetime.


End file.
